A man injured while chasing two teens who beat up his son was awarded $4,500 from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board Monday.

Dave Schweitzer received the compensation for pain and suffering after two teens threw a rock at him, which broke his leg in three places. Schweitzer told the two-judge panel Monday he would have suffered further injuries if not for the selfless actions of strangers. A passing motorist made a U-turn to provide cover from the teens, who were throwing rocks at Schweitzer from the median at Howard Avenue and Eugenie Street.

“I feared for my life,” he said. “Blood was spurting out.”

Judge Emily Crocco declined an offer to see his scar.

Schweitzer chased the teens after they vandalized his Remington Park home. He suspected they were the ones who had beaten his son earlier in the day on July 11, 2010.A bike was also stolen.

He was taken to Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital and put in a hip-to-ankle cast for several months, unable to work as a roofer.

“This didn’t have to happen,” Schweitzer said. “I thought I was dying.”

While documents showed Schweitzer received five rounds of physical therapy, he said he was able to go to only three sessions because he didn’t have the money to get to the other appointments. He said social assistance gave him only six bus tickets to use and he had weekly doctor appointments. He is considering having further surgery on his leg, which is stiff every morning.

Schweitzer, 46, wasn’t awarded any money for lost wages as a roofer because he didn’t have the proper documentation like tax returns with him. The maximum given is $50 a day, Crocco said.

Two and a half years after the attack, Schweitzer said he struggles to climb a ladder. He’s subsisting on social assistance and has applied for disability.

The compensation board also awarded Schweitzer $1,200 toward physical therapy and $500 for any psychotherapy he may need. Schweitzer, a recovering drug addict, said he’s been clean five years.

The teens who attacked him and vandalized his house were convicted of robbery and theft after the incident. Schweitzer’s case is one of 15 the board will hear this week. Five of the hearings are closed to the public.

A hearing is closed when it involves the victim of a sex crime or a child or if there is an ongoing criminal investigation, Crocco said

The panel dismissed the second case they heard Monday after denying a request to close it to the public because the applicant, Lamont Rhue, wasn’t comfortable with his case being reported by the media.

Rhue, a recovering crack addict, was seeking compensation for mental and nervous shock in relation to the death of one of his neighbours, who died from smoke inhalation in a fire set on Sept. 10, 2008.

Elizabeth Conn, 64, and her son Shawn Conn, 34, were initially rescued by firefighters from their burning ground floor apartment in a five-plex apartment building at 790 Bruce Avenue. Conn died a month later in hospital. Rhue lived in the same apartment complex.

At the time of the fire, the apartment complex was owned by former city councillor. Caroline Postma’s husband. A former resident of the complex, Franklyn Wallace, was acquitted of arson and manslaughter charges in May 2010.

Rhue testified that he had on occasion helped Conn bring her groceries into the house.

After hearing from Rhue and Det. Sgt. Glen Gervais, the panel took a brief break to confer. When the hearing resumed, Crocco explained that in order for Rhue to qualify for compensation, there was a very strict criterion that needed to be met. Crocco and Keith Forde, the other panelist, determined that Rhue had no personal relationship with Conn, who was the victim of the arson.

“The applicant testified he wasn’t friends with (Conn and her son) and didn’t know their ages,” Crocco said. “There needs to be a closeness, love and affection (for the victim).”

Conn’s immediate family members have already received compensation.

Crocco advised Rhue he could appeal the decision to a larger panel of the board.

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